I Can't Let Go
by smileallthetime
Summary: Scarlette was in love at the age of seventeen. She couldn't imagine her life without Cedric Diggory. He was the world to her. However, when the opportunity to enter the TriWizard Tournament presents itself, everything changes.


I let you go and you leave me?

"Cedric!" I yelled running at him as fast as I could. I threw myself into his waiting arms. We spun around for hours, laughing. Then I woke-up. I felt the tears streaming down my face-another dream. God- I missed Cedric so much. Our fifth year had ended three weeks ago and I hadn't seen his face since. He was spending quality time with his family on a holiday. I was mildly embarrassed at my attachment. Here I was, seventeen years old crying because I hadn't seen my boyfriend in three weeks. I was absolutely pathetic. Its not like this was the first time we had been apart, but for the first I had this strange feeling something was going to happen. Something really bad. I sat up in my bed trying desperately to wipe the tears away and regain my breath.

You see, Cedric and I had been dating since our second year. It had been three amazing years. That's not to say it has been perfect. I mean, we argue, just not around other people. That may have caused us to get the reputation of a "golden couple". We aren't, we fight just like everyone else. When I get upset, I tend to do drastic things- like assume he doesn't want me anymore. It's taken three years but I undoubtedly trust and love him. He, on occasion, forgets how sensitive I am and does not act favorably. Every couple has these issues. We had a fight before we left for break and I hadn't spoken to him before we left. I knew I was being stupid and I wished I had the balls to apologize before we had left. I wanted to send him a letter, but of course I had no clue where to send it. Beside, he was on holiday and the last thing he needed was a note from his good for nothing girlfriend. Our argument had been stupid, mostly because we were both stressed and overtired. Yet, both of us were too stubborn to talk to the other one. The feeling in my stomach intensified as I realized what detrimental mistake that could be.

When the sobbing stopped enough that I could breathe, I heard a tap at my window. I wandered towards the moonlit glass and opened it up. There stood a little owl with a note wrapped around it's leg. I took it off, and sent the bird away with a treat.

Written on the front of the envelope with careful script was, Scarlette. I quickly opened it and recognized the handwriting immediately.

_Dear Scarlette,_

_I am so sorry. I feel like the biggest idiot in the world that I let a stupid fight come between us before the holiday. The fight wasn't even worth it. Etta, I cannot even express to you in words how much I miss you. I hope you are well and that you at least miss me a little even though I am a moron. The holiday has taken an interesting turn and I will be returning earlier than expected. Okay, I admit it, I moped until it was decided that it would be better for everyone if I came home early. Hopefully this letter will precede my arrival. I hope you didn't make any plans for tomorrow because I have surprise to arrive at your house. I have missed you so much that it hurts. I keep dreaming about you and I wish that we had been able to write sooner. My poor father has had to listen to me mope, however he has taken it well. I cannot wait until I am in your presence again. I love you._

_Yours until the end,_

_Cedric Diggory_

Why he felt the need to put his last name was beyond me. He was the only Cedric I knew and most certainly the only one who would write to me like that. In my absolute excitement, I may have squeaked very loudly. I should have known he would write me first and make me feel like a shmuck. I felt the feeling in my chest lighten just a little bit and the knot in my stomach loosen. _From now on, stupid, no matter how mad you are, you are going to talk to Cedric because you don't even want to feel like this again!_

"Scarlett? You okay? You have another nightmare?" I heard my mother yell from the other room. Of course she was awake when I was happy, not when I was hysterically crying by myself.

"Fine-sorry mum!" She tended to stay up late so I wandered into the kitchen. "Mum guess what?"

"What?" she turned her chair to look at me. I noticed the bags under her eyes.

"Cedric is coming home early"

"That's great honey," my poor mother sounded so tired. She was overworked. My father had recently lost his job at the Ministry and she was doing double shifts at the store to make ends me. On holiday I worked there with her, but she wouldn't let me stay as long as she did. I saw her eye me. I had forgotten to look in the mirror before I came out.

"I miss him," I tried to explain away my tears.

"Yeah- I noticed"

"Okay- well I thought you should know," I didn't know what else to say.

"You aren't going to sleep are you?"

"You know me too well" I smiled at her. We sat in the kitchen talking for a few hours. "Mum? Why don't you sleep?"

"Your father snores," she smiled at me

"Mum-"

"I don't know sweetie- I just can't," I wonder if something else was bothering her that she wasn't telling me. I never wanted to pry into my mothers life. It is important in my family to keep up appearances.

"Well maybe you should see someone," I instantly regretted saying anything because her face fell.

"Yeah, I think I will- I am going to try to get a few hours in k?" She left me so I followed suit. I considered writing Cedric back, but I realized that despite everything, I still just wanted to see him in person. I fell into a dreamless sleep. I woke up a few hours later and got dressed. I sat down to eat breakfast when the doorbell rang. It took every ounce of my control not to run to the door. I heard it open and listened. Two male voices were talking.

"Scarlette?" I heard my father yell.

"Yes?" as if I didn't know why he is calling my name.

"Someone is here to see you" That was all it took and I was flying for the door.

"Don't run Scarlette" my mother attempted to yell. I saw him standing at the door looking slightly tanner, maybe taller and so handsome. I skidded to a stop.

"Go ahead" my father rolled his eyes and walked away. I threw myself into Cedric.

"Three weeks is too long not to talk. I am such a brat and I am so sorry. I can't believe that we left things the way we did and I don't ever want to do that again Cedric. I am sorry I didn't write you back I just got caught up with my mom then I fell asleep. But I am so sorry, you know I love you so much,"I whispered to him. I wasn't one to show much affection first but I kissed him as hard as I could. I felt his laugh deep in his belly as he wrapped his arms tighter around me.

"So you did miss me, huh?" I gently slapped his back as he lifted me in the air.

"I dreamt about you every night put me down," He leaned into my fore head. I felt his breath across my cheek.

"I dreamt about you too" He kissed me. We stood there smiling at each other for a few moments.

"Are you hungry Cedric?" my mother yelled.

"Actually breakfast would be lovely, thank you,"he politely said as we walked into the kitchen. "So I have a surprise for you," he whispered into my ear.

"I thought you were my surprise?"

"Well, while I do make a fantastic gift-"

"Cedric" I pushed him gently laughing

"I just feel as though you warranted something a little more."

"Such as? Although you should never feel like you are not enough because you totally are, I mean-"

"We are going to the World Cup!" I jumped up and screamed. My mother looked at me in surprise. Behavior like that is not tolerated well in my family.

"Are you serious?" The tickets to the World Cup were nothing less than the most coveted thing in the entirety of the Wizard world at this exact moment. I had always wanted to go, seeing as I was a Quiditch player for the Hufflepuff team at Hogwarts.

"Never been more serious in my life. We are going as long as it is fine with your parents" We both looked pleadingly at my stunned mother.

"Oh- of course, but Cedric, we insist on paying for the ticket," my mother always had this thing about not owing anyone. I think it bothered her that she couldn't give me everything all of my friends had. I wore hand me down robes from my cousins since I was a first year. It didn't really bother me too much. I was in Hufflepuff and no one ever made fun of me for it. At least in front of me.

"No need, they are all set. My father received them, but thank you," he said as my mother nodded.

"Oh thank you so much Mum!" I hugged her and then threw myself into Cedric's arms.

1 week later

"Ced- you really ought to get out of that tree. They are going to be here any minute. Don't you want to make a good impression?" I will never understand what it is about boys and wanting to climb trees. It will never cross my mind to climb one when walking somewhere. Cedric, on the other hand, loved being up in the air. If it was up to him, he would never get down from his broom.

"The only person I care to impress right now is you- and you already love me," I craned my neck to see his toothy grin

"I would love you even more if you were on the ground" I hinted in a sing-song voice.

"Ehhh- doubt it"

"Suit yourself" I saw the Weasley's off in the distance.

When they reached us, introductions were made. Cedric jumped down and threw his arm around me. I laughed and shoved it off. He took my hand and we began our walk to the port key. I had never taken one before, but was too embarrassed to tell the Diggory's. As we walked , I chatted with Hermione about classes. Although I didn't know her well, we seemed to get along rather well. I suddenly felt very nervous as we reach the portkey. I knew I should have asked my mother more information about what to do. I watched as everyone put their hand on it and followed suit, praying I was doing the right thing. As I put my hand on the boot and felt myself being tugged through the air. Landing was rather painful I was thrown against the ground, landing on a rock. Cedric and the two fathers landed gracefully. I looked at them feeling mildly annoyed at his perfect gracefulness. I watched as Cedric helped Harry up. Leave it to him to help a perfect stranger before his girlfriend. I went to stand up as I felt his arms lock around me. I dusted off my pants and shook my head as he laughed at me. I checked where I had landed on the rock and was relieved to see that I wasn't bleeding. However, that was going to leave a nasty bruise.

"Not so graceful are we, love?" Cedric smiled at me as he brushed some dust off my back.

"No, I guess not," I looked away from him as my face turned beat red. I was embarrassed even though everyone else had ended in my position.

"I'm sorry- I should have checked to see if you knew how to land. That was my fault" he pulled my face towards him. I shrugged. "Was kinda funny to see the great Harry Potter on his butt though, wasn't it?" he whispered in my ear. I giggled involuntarily, "You alright love? Nothing hurts?

"Minus my bruised side and ego I am perfectly fine. You know, Ced,We owe him a lot"

"Yeah- but not right now" He took my hand and we began to walk towards the World Cup. I gasped when I saw the scene around me. Cedric put his arm around me when we stopped. "Isn't it something?" You could literally suffocate from the excitement in the air. All around us people were laughing or arguing. Lights and fire spun around me as a tripped walking to our tent. I glared as Cedric laughed. We found our tent, waving goodbye to Weasley's. Before I knew it, we were climbing the stairs t go sit in the arena.

"Yeah- Cedric we are at the World Cup!" I hugged him tighter. The match was incredible. Cedric spent most of it talking about the skill level of the players. I just grinned at him. I knew enough about Quiditch to know what was going on around me. However, I did not know enough to comment on every single players stats. That was way more up Cedric's alley. We left chatting with his father excitedly about next year and how we absolutely needed to find tickets. That night, he kissed me and tucked me into my bed.

"Oh goodnight Mum," I laughed at him.

"Love you too, Etta," he smiled at me. I fell sound asleep dreaming that I was a flying far above the earth when black smoke suddenly surrounded me. A worried cry and shouts from outside woke me up. I felt someone's arms pull me up.

"Scarlette! Come on," I saw Cedric's face looked pale as he handed me my shoes. I looked up at his father who was staring outside our tent flap. Cedric's hands tightened around my arm as I threw on a pair of shoes. He grabbed my hand and pulled me up. There was so much shouting and screaming it was deafening as we ran into the crowd. Our hands broke and I got lost in the sea of strangers. Above my head was the Dark Mark. Panic began to set in as a hooded figure pushed harshly past me and I was thrown to the ground. More and more people kicked me as I tried to stand. Finally I succeeded in getting upright but my head was spinning. My eyes searched wildly for Cedric.I called out to me, but I realized it was useless. My hand gripped my wand so hard I thought it was going to break. In the back of my mind as I followed a family, I tried to think if any defense spells I knew. I looked at everyone's face trying to decipher if they could be Cedric or his father or anyone I knew. There was no way in the world that he would leave me. My heart was pounding in my chest. About ten feet over I saw Cedric shouting my name. I pushed through people until I could finally threw myself into him. He caught me. I felt the relief radiate from him.

"Scarlette! Are you okay? You're bleeding," I reached up and touched my cheek. Sure enough my hand came away with blood. He pulled me close as we ran to a clearing where is his father was. I didn't realized I was crying until I couldn't see anymore. "It's okay, you are safe now. I am so sorry we got separated. I am so sorry." I just clung to him as tightly as I could. He kissed my forehead and held me as tightly. I was shaking like a leaf and Cedric held me like he was glue. We came into a clearing where we saw his father who ran over to us.

"You're safe?" he quickly said.

"Scarlette got hurt," Cedric's arm was shaking.

"I'm fine, it's just a cut," I said to his father who looked me over.

"We'll get back and then fix it up," before I knew it, we were back at the Diggory's. I saw down at the kitchen table and released the rest of my tears. Cedric pushed the hair out of my face so his father could see how deep the cut was on my forehead. I heard Cedric's father tsking as my eyes welled up with more tears. "I'm sorry darling, this is going to hurt." It stung as his wand tapped me, but I knew it was for the best. I watched Cedric paced the room. "Go to bed, we'll talk about this in the morning when we have all had a good night's sleep," his father said pointedly at Cedric, "Scarlette, the guest room is already made up. Are you alright?" I nodded at him and he gently kissed my head, "You are like my own daughter," he said as he left the room, suddenly. The room was silent except for the roar of the fire and an occasional sniffle coming from my side of the room. I looked at Cedric but it was as if he forgot I was even in the room.

"Ced?"

"Yeah?" he looked so distracted.

"What's wrong?" I stood to walk over to him.

"Nothing" I reached for his face but he turned away. I felt the hurt radiate through my body.

"The truth please?"

"I – I don't know"

"Cedric" he turned and grabbed me. I could hardly breath he was holding me so tightly.

"Scarlette, I could have lost you. I was so scared, but you, you're okay. I should have been more responsible," I was absolutely stunned silent for a moment.

"Don't be ridiculous Cedric, there was nothing you could have done. We got separated. It could have been much much worse. I'm fine, you're fine, you're dad's fine." He was being absurd. Our separation was not his fault. He stared at my face for a few minutes and then absentmindedly brushed a piece of hair behind my ear.

"You're right, we should be thankful."

"I hope all the Weasley's got out okay," So far there had been no word of what had transpired. I had the decency to call my mother to inform her that I was safe. She sounded upset on the phone and insisted on coming to get me. After speaking to Cedric's father for a few minutes, she agreed to let me stay the night. I don't know what they talked about, but I couldn't help but worry.

"I am sure the Weasley's are fine, can I ask you a favor?" He seemed hesitant, as if I would deny him anything.

"Of course."

"Will you sleep in my room tonight?" I felt a faint blush appear on my cheeks. We weren't allowed to stay in the same room. A flashback of the hooded figure with the mask ran across my mind. Rules stopped mattering.

"Yes please- I would feel so much safer"

"Me too, darling, me too," he held me tight in his arms, but I don't think either of us slept.


End file.
